UNDRR News

Ministers and senior officials from the Americas and the Caribbean pledged to make their countries more resistant to hazards, such as earthquakes, hurricanes or pandemics, and renewed their vow to achieve the goals of the Sendai Framework.

The Covid pandemic underlines why effective action on disaster prevention and management must embrace all sectors of society and involve national and international actors, a conference on risk reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean was told.

The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami spurred a movement to develop female community leaders in Japan.

The Americas & the Caribbean have produced some outstanding examples of how strong disaster governance, executed with vision, competence, trust and transparency, can prevent unnecessary loss of life. Furthermore, it is a region that over the last 40 years has actively contributed to the development of the disaster risk reduction conceptual and evidence-based knowledge that shaped important global agreements including the Sendai Framework. The multi-sectorial representation around this table is a reason for hope.

The Covid pandemic recovery provides a chance to implement green and sustainable economic and social policies, but it is far from certain that governments will seize the opportunity, the VII Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction heard today.

Opening of the Fifth Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean

“In hosting what is now a virtual gathering we are already demonstrating the indispensable qualities of partnership and determination as we live through the most pressing disaster of our times,” Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a video address to the opening ceremony of the Vll Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean.

In the past year, we have seen that the political ambition to support vulnerable communities has grown. As an international community we have improved our understanding of the positive impact of pre-arranged risk finance and having anticipatory measures in place in case of disasters. At the same time, we need to push even more for strong implementation and impact, to make this vision of support for vulnerable communities possible.

With the adherence of all municipal corporations to MCR2030, Jamaica shows its commitment to achieving a sustainable and resilient future.

“I am very encouraged that the private sector is leading in so many ways,” Mami Mizutor, head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction,i told a closing session of the ARISE Forum – Americas and the Caribbean, in advance of next week’s VII Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction hosted by the Government of Jamaica.